AYAKA ISONO, Piano
PROGRAM: Enfance (Childhood)
From Histoires (c. 1922)
Jacques Ibert (1890-1965)
I. La meneuse de tortues d’or (The leader of golden turtles)
II. Le petit âne blanc (The little white donkey)
III. Le vieux mendiant (The old beggar)
IV. A Giddy Girl
Gnossienne no. 1, 2, and 3 from Six Gnossiennes (c. 1890-1893?)
Erik Satie (1866-1925)
Children’s Corner(c. 1906–1908)
Claude Debussy(1862-1918)
I. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum
II. Jimbo’s Lullaby
III. Serenade of the Doll
IV. The Snow Is Dancing
V. The Little Shepherd
VI. Golliwogg’s Cakewalk
Ma mère l’Oye “cinq pièces enfantines” (c. 1910)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1827)
I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant (Pavane of Sleeping Beauty)
II. Petit Poucet (Little Tom Thumb/Hop-O’-My-Thumb)
III. Laideronnette, impératrice des pagodes (Little Ugly Girl, Empress of the Pagodas)
IV. Les entretiens de la belle et de la bête (Conversation of Beauty and the Beast)
V. Le jardin féerique (The Fairy Garden)
PERFORMER BIO
Born in Japan, AYAKA ISONO received her Bachelor of Music from Indiana University, Bloomington, and her Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, taking her piano studies with Mack McCray, Marc Steiner, John Bloomfield, Paul Hersh, Eckert Selheim. Boaz Sharon, Shigeo Neriki. and Hiroshi Tajika. She has received awards and scholarships from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, AIMS Music Festival in Austria, Piano Master Class in the Czech Republic, and Madeline Island Chamber Music Festival in Minnesota. Ms. Isono has performed throughout the United States and Europe, and locally, has worked and performed with the San Francisco Symphony, Oakland Ballet, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has also been on the piano faculty of the San Domenico School in San Anselmo, California. As a collaborative artist, she has performed with principal musicians of the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Chicago Symphony Philadelphia Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theater Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and New Zealand National Symphony.
Ms. Isono became visually impaired in 2001, yet continues to teach and perform, now studying her scores in Braille. She has been a guest speaker at San Francisco State University and was invited to lecture on Braille music at the California Transcribers and Educators for the Blind and Visually Impaired (CTEBVI) convention. Her notable accomplishments have been profiled on NBC news Bay Area.In the years since the birth of her son in 2008, Ms Isono has been teaching extensively at her private studio in the East Bay. She has worked with a wide variety of music students from all over the Bay Area, including some from as far away as San Jose. She has also performed several concerts in recent years with members of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet orchestras. All Bach, Ms. Isono’s most recent recording, is available at various online merchants and was highlighted in the San Francisco Examiner: “In a time when there is far from a shortage of Bach recordings, All Bach offers performances that are sure to engage and sustain the attention of the serious listener.”
NOON CONCERT SERIES INFORMATION
For the past 5 years we have offered complimentary classical concerts every Wednesday featuring renowned musicians from around the world. Thank you so much to all who joined us and performed for us over these past seasons. You have helped make this concert series a special place where community and friends can gather for the love of live music and discover something new and beautiful each and every week.
Throckmorton Theatre is determined to offer the inspiration of live music to every community member, regardless of financial ability. Thus we offer these concerts free of charge to the public, however we pay all performers and incur costs to produce these events. We are incredibly grateful for any and all donations and we also welcome sponsorships of any level.
Concerts are approximately an hour long and most performances take place in the Tivoli room, where both the audience and musicians can sit in close proximity, creating an intimate concert setting. Please take a look at our calendar of these special events and join us!
